What Could Have Been
by Kina666
Summary: SasuNaru Team Hebi turn themselves over to Konoha as part of an arrangement in their search for Uchiha Itachi. Being held in ANBU prison until after their trials, Sasuke gets a surprise visit from Naruto, and finally old feelings are put to rest.


**A/N:** Finally! I got it edited and finished! Everyone is a bit OOC but I tried to portray them as close to the real thing as possible. I hope you like it!

~Kina

What Could Have Been?

One-shot

SasuNaru

**Disclaimer:** I own none of these characters, and if I did do you really think I would be wasting my time writing fan fiction about them when I could be witnessing the real thing?

* * *

The group of four was silent as they made their way through the trees towards Konohagakure. Sasuke took the lead position, having the most extensive knowledge of the area surrounding his homeland. To his left, a few trees behind him Suigetsu could be heard as he mumbled complaints about tiredness and needing more breaks. Silent as always, Juugo followed a few trees behind Sasuke, but to his right. Karin filled the end position of their traveling squad, bringing up the rear as she shamelessly stared at the Uchiha's ass.

Sasuke could feel the tension in the air as they came closer and closer to their destination. At the speed they were traveling it wouldn't take much time for them to arrive in the clearing near the gates of the village. Normally outsider shinobi wouldn't dream of getting this close to the village gates, but in this case it was necessary. The Gate was open as they slowed their run to a brisk walk, and standing there waiting for them was platoon of cold, collected ANBU guards.

Slowing to a stop, Sasuke signaled the rest of his team to a halt as the captain of the ANBU squad stepped forward. Without hesitation he held out his hands for the cold, chakra suppressing cuffs to be shackled around his wrists. Once the rest of Hebi was shackled and in the firm grasp of the ANBU they were lead through the streets towards the Hokage's tower.

Villagers stopped and watched on in awe, and fear as Hebi was paraded through the village like the criminals they were. The trip took little more than a few tense minutes before they were standing in line in front of a calm, emotionless Tsunade. Her desk was clear of any and all paperwork, leaving only a brush, a small pot of ink, and her sealing stamp.

Hands folded neatly in front of her, Tsunade trailed her eyes briefly over the unique group assembled before her. After a few moments of utter silence she finally rested her eyes on the stiff form of the youngest Uchiha. Her cold and calculating amber eyes clashed against his guarded onyx orbs across the room.

They all waited with baited breath for Tsunade to begin speaking. A few tense moments passed before she loosened up and leaned back in her chair, pulling out a bottle of Sake to sip from. She smirked at Sasuke before she finally spoke.

"So you decided to grace Konoha with your presence, and I see you brought a few friends along for the ride. You must realize you're not going to get out of this scotch free, what is it you're after? Oh silly me, it must be Uchiha Itachi."

At the sound of his murderous brothers name Sasuke twitched and clenched his hands tightly in front of him. Taking a deep breath he calmed himself down enough for the red rage to clear from his vision. Watching all of this, Tsunade continued to smirk while Karin glared, Suigetsu mumbled complaints and Juugo stood quietly to the side. The ANBU guard continued to stand behind their captives, faces hidden by their animal masks.

Ignoring the baleful glares of Karin, Tsunade continued on speaking solely towards the youngest Uchiha.

"It really doesn't matter what you think you're here for. If you think for a second I'm just going to let you come back into my village and act as if nothing happed then you are sorely mistaken. No matter how much Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi care for you I cannot let you go unpunished. The day you left you became a liability to the safety of this village and its people, and you must be disciplined. Until a trial date can be set I'm going to have to keep you confined to a cell; your friends as well. I cannot have a traitor and his little missing-nin buddies roaming the village," Tsunade sighed as she took a sip of her sake before continuing, "but you must have known this would happen. While this may be a strategic maneuver on your part, it will be a while before you regain a standing as a shinobi of my village, and until then you are not privileged to the information you seek."

With a nod towards the ANBU Tsunade closed her eyes with a sigh as the guards stepped forward and once again took hold of their prisoners, ready to escort them to their holding cells.

"I'll come and speak to you personally when I have the chance. If anything, expect a visit from your team members." Tsunade finished as she waved the guards out of her office. Once the door was shut firmly behind them she began to pinch the bridge of her nose; a habit during stressful situations, that she had yet to break.

"Damn it, I need stronger sake."

* * *

As the wind blew through the trees surrounding the prison, Sasuke woke up to the grim, yet clean cell that he and Juugo had been placed in the previous day. The cell was barren and empty, holding only two small cots and a small toilet in the corner of the cramped space. Looking over to the opposite side of the cell, Sasuke noticed Juugo was still in a silent and fitful sleep.

Knowing how hard it was for his team mate to have a good night's rest he merely watched him sleep for a while. Once the sun was raised high enough to be seen through the small barred window, he walked over and woke Juugo. It was enlightening how calm and relaxed Juugo was when he was confined to a cell; it showed just how compassionate he was, and how scared he was of losing control of himself. After speaking softly for a while they both began their morning exercises, trying to maintain as much normalcy as possible.

"Sasuke…"

Pausing Sasuke looked up to see deep, soulful baby blue eyes watching him, and felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. "Naruto…"

The ANBU guard escorted the blonde fox-boy inside before he closed the cell and walked a few feet away, just out of hearing distance, as to give them a semblance of privacy. Naruto rushed forward, disregarding Juugo, who had sat himself back onto his bed to meditate, and pulled Sasuke into a tight hug.

Naruto let out a muffled cry of glee as he buried his face into the Uchiha's shoulder. His blue eyes watered as he held his best-friend close to him after such a long separation. Much to his disbelief and relief Sasuke, after a moment's hesitation, wrapped his arms around the sobbing blonde haired man.

They stood there in silence for a few moments merely taking in each other's presence, before they both slowly pulled away. Sasuke lead Naruto over to his cot and both sat down side by side. Nether spoke as both searched for the words that needed to be said after years of separation.

Finally, Sasuke let out a low sigh and looked over to Naruto out of the corner of his eye. "Dobe,"

Twitching at the old nickname, Naruto let out a shout as he punched Sasuke playfully in the shoulder.

"Teme, I'm not a Dobe!"

Smirking at the familiarity of the name, Sasuke let out a slight chuckle as he responded. "Still the same Dead-last, why am I not surprised?"

Instead of the loud yell of disagreement he had been expecting, Sasuke was surprised when Naruto's eyes darkened and a sad, almost broken smile slid across his face.

"I've changed more than you know Sasuke,"

The change in tone caused Sasuke to look at Naruto in an entirely new light. Long gone was the carefree, innocent boy who had idealistic dreams, and rushed straight into a fight without a second thought. In his place stood a full grown man, a man who had seen bloodshed, who had caused violence and death. Before him was a seasoned shinobi, one with deep emotional and physical scars.

And in that moment, Sasuke felt his stomach twist in what he assumed was guilt. He was at fault for so much of the emotional damage that the blonde had been subjected to. He had caused him so much pain and suffering, by being selfish. He knew that he could not give up on his goal, his duty to his clan, but he knew in that moment, that he had made a mistake.

He should have never gotten close to anyone, it only caused pain. Everyone that was close to him was either killed or in pain because of him. He couldn't save his clan, and he couldn't save Naruto, Kakashi, or even Sakura from the pain.

"Sasuke...I'm sorry,"

Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts as quick as lightning when those words left Naruto's lips. Looking at the blonde man in shock, he watched as Naruto's eyes watered even more as he elaborated.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't have been a better friend. If I had been a better best friend maybe you wouldn't have felt the need to leave. When you left, I felt as if I had failed, and when the chance to bring you back came along I didn't hesitate to rush after you. When we failed the first time I felt broken inside, but then I saw Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei I realized that I wasn't the only one who felt that way. So I pulled myself together and made the promise of a Life-time. I trained hard, and long. Harder than I had ever trained before, and when the second retrieval mission came around, I thought I was ready to knock some sense into you and bring you back, but that's not how it turned out. No matter how strong I got, it still wasn't enough. And then I realized something...What if you really didn't want to come back...to your home...to us... to me..." He broke off as tears trailed down his whiskered face, his eyes darkened to a deep, dismal blue.

"That thought was utter blasphemy, why would you not want to return to your home? To your friends…your _family_…Unless you didn't see us as that. It was horrible...one of the first friends I had ever had didn't even see me as one… So I guess it was my fault, had I been a better friend, a true friend I would have been able to stop you from leaving us, your village, your friends, your family." With a solemn sigh, Naruto turned away, unable to look Sasuke in the eyes.

Sasuke sat there in shock as he continued to filter through all that Naruto had said. He felt guilt twist even further into the pit of his stomach. Naruto had blamed himself...It was his fault, not Naruto's. Naruto had nothing to do with it!

It had been hard leaving the village, harder than he had wanted it to be. He had always known that at some point in time he would leave Konohagakure. It had nothing to do with the people in it, though the fan girls only strengthened his decision. He had known that to kill Itachi he would have to leave the village, whether it be with the approval of the Hokage or not.

"Dobe, shut the hell up you dumb ass. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about." His voice was harsh at first, but softened as he continued on, his normally cold and indifferent eyes were warm and caring.

"Look what I've done to you Naruto. You were such a good friend that my leaving caused you to become this self-loathing, jaded man. If anyone is at fault for anything it's me. Look what I've done to you and our friends. It's not your fault Naruto, you where the best friend I could have asked for in the situation and you may have been more if I hadn't blown up everything and gotten ahead of myself.

"I want you to understand that before I ever met you or any of our friends I made my decision. The day I woke up from the Tsukiyomi the first time, I knew that to gain vengeance I would have to leave this village and its inhabitants. No matter how close we were, before anything could become of my bonds in this village I needed to make sure that they would be safe. I couldn't live with myself if I allowed strong bonds to form with people, and I began to care about them, only for them to be killed off by Itachi like my clan." Sasuke let a sigh escape his lips as he looked over to Naruto to see the blonde with a shocked look adorning his face.

"C-could have been more?" Naruto stuttered as he filtered through Sasuke's words. His eyes held confusion, and surprise as he looked for the answers in Sasuke's warm, soft eyes. Afraid of his reaction, Sasuke turned away as he began to explain.

"Even though I was cold, and harsh towards you, I cared about you a lot Naruto, more than I was willing to admit. Do you remember the day we were assigned our Genin teams? When that boy knocked into you and caused us to kiss? When our lips met, I felt something, something so foreign and different that I was lost. That incident made me question myself and my feelings for you and people in general. You could say that it jump-started my hormones. Ever since that moment in time I could never decipher my feelings for you." Sasuke's voiced softened as he continued.

"Where you merely my best friend, and brother or where you something more? Like a lover? But even if I had felt you could be a potential lover, I never would have voiced my feelings, not only because of my pride, but of fear that you would be disgusted by my feelings. Are you Naruto? Do I disgust you because I'm attracted to you? Because I may just love you more than in a platonic way? Do you want to sneer at me and spit in my face? Do you want to cringe away from my touch? Most importantly...Do you wish I hadn't come back?" Sasuke's eyes where guarded, awaiting for the disgust, the rejection and the hateful word to spill.

Naruto looked at Sasuke with disbelief in his eyes. He watched as his previously open, and warm eyes clouded over and reverted back to their normally hard and cold look, as if to block out his reaction. It was then that Naruto realized it.

_He thinks I'm going to reject him and his feelings. He thinks I'm going to be disgusted and hate him. _

Naruto's eyes softened and lightened in color as a low chuckle reverberated out of his throat. The unexpected sound caused Sasuke to flinch as thoughts began to race through his head.

_**He's laughing at me...He's laughing...I suppose it's better than him hating me...Maybe he thinks I wasn't serious. If so I can just put it off as if it was a joke and he'll never know. He'll never know that it was true.**_

Seeing Sasuke flinch caused Naruto's chuckling to stop instantly. Sighing, he felt a smile slide across his face as he pulled Sasuke into a hug.

"You're so stupid Sasuke-teme. Don't think I'm laughing at you. I just find our situation funny and ironic. How could you think I'd ever hate you? After all I've been through to get you back home, how could I ever wish you hadn't come back? To tell you the truth Sasuke, when we kissed I felt something too. When we kissed that day...I don't know what it was…demo…something changed. I started seeing you in a different light. I was so confused and lost; I thought that if I just ignored it than everything would go back to the way it was. I thought we'd go back to being rivals, you being your high and mighty self, getting all the girls and little old me fighting to get noticed and acknowledged.

"But you know something Sasuke...It didn't change. Every time I saw you I'd get that feeling, I'd push it down, and ignore it, but then later it would come back with vengeance, stronger than before. I didn't want to tell you about it, I was scared you'd throw it in my face and laugh. I was scared that the boy I thought of as my best friend would never talk to me again if I said anything about it. I mean, how could you feel the same? You had to revive your clan, and that wouldn't happen if you were with a guy." Naruto felt Sasuke start to shake and began to panic, thinking he had said something to cause him to cry, but let out a sigh of relief and smiled when Sasuke began to laugh.

"Baka Dobe, I was twelve years old. I knew nothing about sex or babies." A small sad smile sat on Sasuke's lips as he hugged Naruto back.

"It's too late for us isn't it?" He murmured softly as he looked out the window of his cell still holding the blonde close. "If I had stayed things could have been different. If I had stayed I'm sure that we would be together right now... and I would have been happy. We would have been happy...demo now it's too late." Naruto's smile dimmed as he too looked out the window before responding to Sasuke's soft confession.

"I don't know. We're so much different than before, and I'm dating Hinata-chan now. Even if we wanted to try and make it work I would never want to hurt her. I love her so much, and she doesn't deserve to be hurt for something we're not even sure will work. What I feel for Hinata-chan is so different than what I felt for you when we were young Sasuke. Who's to say that it wasn't just a crush? I know we would have been happy together, demo for how long? Could it have lasted?"

They sat in compatible silence for a few minutes, both gazing out at the light blue sky with thoughtful expressions. Finally Sasuke's expression changed into one of resolve and determination, as well as sadness and acceptance. Breaking out of the ramen-lovers hold, Sasuke turned and grabbed Naruto's face in his hands, making the whisker-cheeked blonde look him straight in the eye.

Without hesitation, Sasuke leaned forward and captured Naruto's lips in a soft, loving kiss. Their lips touched for a few moments before they both broke away at the same time, sad smiles adorning their faces.

"Hinata is very lucky, and I hope that you two live the rest of your lives together in happiness. She deserves you far more than I ever could." Sasuke's eyes were once again unguarded as he moved away from the kyûbi-container. Naruto couldn't help but smile brightly at the mere mention of his 'Hinata-chan', but patted Sasuke on the shoulder as he consoled the youngest Uchiha.

"Hey don't worry Sasuke-teme, we'll find you someone. Sakura-chan can help!"

Sasuke couldn't help but twitch at the thought of Sakura and him getting married and having kids.

"Ah...Dobe...I really don't want my kids to have pink hair so..."

Naruto burst out laughing at the thought of little Sasuke's with pink hair running around the village. Calming down, he smirked at Sasuke who was muttering about how he could never live it down if he had a son with pink hair.

* * *

**A/N:** So there you go! Like I said, it's a bit OOC but I thought it turned out fairly good. The only Japanese I think I used was:

'**demo,'** which is the equivalent of 'but' in a sentence.

'**shinobi,'** which means Ninja of course!

Does **Konohagakure **count? It basically means Konoha.

Anyway there is no particular "end" to this one-shot. I felt that it was fine as it was and I really didn't want to fuck it up by adding some retarded ending just for "closure". I'm open to all reviews and flames so tell me what you think!

~Kina


End file.
